Matthew 17-20
Darby Translation
17 And after six days Jesus takes with [him] Peter, and James, and John his brother, and brings them up into a high mountain apart.
2 And he was transfigured before them. And his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light;
3 and lo, Moses and Elias appeared to them talking with him.
4 And Peter answering said to Jesus, Lord, it is good we should be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: for thee one, and for Moses one, and one for Elias.
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying, *This* is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight: hear him.
6 And the disciples hearing [it] fell upon their faces, and were greatly terrified.
7 And Jesus coming to [them] touched them, and said, Rise up, and be not terrified.
8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus alone.
9 And as they descended from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of man be risen up from among [the] dead.
10 And [his] disciples demanded of him saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first have come?
11 And he answering said to them, Elias indeed comes first and will restore all things.
12 But I say unto you that Elias has already come, and they have not known him, but have done unto him whatever they would. Thus also the Son of man is about to suffer from them.
13 Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the baptist.
14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came to him, falling on his knees before him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic, and suffers sorely; for often he falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they were not able to heal him.
17 And Jesus answering said, O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon went out from him, and the boy was healed from that hour.
19 Then the disciples, coming to Jesus apart, said [to him], Why were not *we* able to cast him out?
20 And he says to them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard [seed], ye shall say to this mountain, Be transported hence there, and it shall transport itself; and nothing shall be impossible to you.
21 But this kind does not go out but by prayer and fasting.
22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of man is about to be delivered up into [the] hands of men,
23 and they shall kill him; and the third day he shall be raised up. And they were greatly grieved.
24 And when they came to Capernaum, those who received the didrachmas came to Peter and said, Does your teacher not pay the didrachmas?
25 He says, Yes. And when he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, What dost thou think, Simon? the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive custom or tribute? from their own sons or from strangers?
26 Peter says to him, From strangers. Jesus said to him, Then are the sons free.
27 But that we may not be an offence to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when thou hast opened its mouth thou wilt find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and thee.
18 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?
2 And Jesus having called a little child to [him], set it in their midst,
3 and said, Verily I say to you, Unless ye are converted and become as little children, ye will not at all enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
4 Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, *he* is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens;
5 and whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name, receives me.
6 But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea.
7 Woe to the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; yet woe to that man by whom the offence comes!
8 And if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life lame or maimed, [rather] than having two hands or two feet to be cast into eternal fire.
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life one-eyed, [rather] than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.
10 See that ye do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in [the] heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in [the] heavens.
11 For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost.
12 What think ye? If a certain man should have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not, leaving the ninety and nine on the mountains, go and seek the one that has gone astray?
13 And if it should come to pass that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more because of it than because of the ninety and nine not gone astray.
14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in [the] heavens that one of these little ones should perish.
15 But if thy brother sin against thee, go, reprove him between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he do not hear [thee], take with thee one or two besides, that every matter may stand upon the word of two witnesses or of three.
17 But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the assembly; and if also he will not listen to the assembly, let him be to thee as one of the nations and a tax-gatherer.
18 Verily I say to you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say to you, that if two of you shall agree on the earth concerning any matter, whatsoever it may be that they shall ask, it shall come to them from my Father who is in [the] heavens.
20 For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them.
21 Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? until seven times?
22 Jesus says to him, I say not to thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven.
23 For this cause the kingdom of the heavens has become like a king who would reckon with his bondmen.
24 And having begun to reckon, one debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 But he not having anything to pay, [his] lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and his children, and everything that he had, and that payment should be made.
26 The bondman therefore falling down did him homage, saying, Lord, have patience with me and I will pay thee all.
27 And the lord of that bondman, being moved with compassion, loosed him and forgave him the loan.
28 But that bondman having gone out, found one of his fellow-bondmen who owed him a hundred denarii. And having seized him, he throttled him, saying, Pay [me] if thou owest anything.
29 His fellow-bondman therefore, having fallen down [at his feet], besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee.
30 But he would not, but went away and cast him into prison, until he should pay what was owing.
31 But his fellow-bondmen, having seen what had taken place, were greatly grieved, and went and recounted to their lord all that had taken place.
32 Then his lord, having called him to [him], says to him, Wicked bondman! I forgave thee all that debt because thou besoughtest me;
33 shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-bondman, as *I* also had compassion on thee?
34 And his lord being angry delivered him to the tormentors till he paid all that was owing to him.
35 Thus also my heavenly Father shall do to you if ye forgive not from your hearts every one his brother.
19 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, he withdrew from Galilee, and came to the coasts of Judaea beyond the Jordan;
2 and great crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 And the Pharisees came to him tempting him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
4 But he answering said [to them], Have ye not read that he who made [them], from the beginning made them male and female,
5 and said, On account of this a man shall leave father and mother, and shall be united to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh?
6 so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.
7 They say to him, Why then did Moses command to give a letter of divorce and to send [her] away?
8 He says to them, Moses, in view of your hardheartedness, allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not thus.
9 But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, not for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and he who marries one put away commits adultery.
10 His disciples say to him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
11 And he said to them, All cannot receive this word, but those to whom it has been given;
12 for there are eunuchs which have been born thus from [their] mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs of men; and there are eunuchs who have made eunuchs of themselves for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens. He that is able to receive [it], let him receive [it].
13 Then there were brought to him little children that he might lay his hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and do not hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of the heavens is of such:
15 and having laid his hands upon them, he departed thence.
16 And lo, one coming up said to him, Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have life eternal?
17 And he said to him, What askest thou me concerning goodness? one is good. But if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He says to him, Which? And Jesus said, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother, and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man says to him, All these have I kept; what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said to him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell what thou hast and give to [the] poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.
22 But the young man, having heard the word, went away grieved, for he had large possessions.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, Verily I say unto you, A rich man shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom of the heavens;
24 and again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to enter a needle's eye than a rich man into the kingdom of God.
25 And when the disciples heard [it] they were exceedingly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus, looking on [them], said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
27 Then Peter answering said to him, Behold, *we* have left all things and have followed thee; what then shall happen to us?
28 And Jesus said to them, Verily I say unto you, That *ye* who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit down upon his throne of glory, *ye* also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every one who has left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit life eternal.
30 But many first shall be last, and last first.
20 For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard.
2 And having agreed with the workmen for a denarius the day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And having gone out about [the] third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle;
4 and to them he said, Go also ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever may be just I will give you. And they went their way.
5 Again, having gone out about the sixth and ninth hour, he did likewise.
6 But about the eleventh [hour], having gone out, he found others standing, and says to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7 They say to him, Because no man has hired us. He says to them, Go also ye into the vineyard [and whatsoever may be just ye shall receive].
8 But when the evening was come, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward, Call the workmen and pay [them] their wages, beginning from the last even to the first.
9 And when they [who came to work] about the eleventh hour came, they received each a denarius.
10 And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they received also themselves each a denarius.
11 And on receiving it they murmured against the master of the house,
12 saying, These last have worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.
13 But he answering said to one of them, [My] friend, I do not wrong thee. Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?
14 Take what is thine and go. But it is my will to give to this last even as to thee:
15 is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs? Is thine eye evil because *I* am good?
16 Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called ones, but few chosen ones.
17 And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples with [him] apart in the way, and said to them,
18 Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death;
19 and they will deliver him up to the nations to mock and to scourge and to crucify, and the third day he shall rise again.
20 Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, with her sons, doing homage, and asking something of him.
21 And he said to her, What wilt thou? She says to him, Speak [the word] that these my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand and one on thy left in thy kingdom.
22 And Jesus answering said, Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink the cup which *I* am about to drink? They say to him, We are able.
23 [And] he says to them, Ye shall drink indeed my cup, but to sit on my right hand and on [my] left, is not mine to give, but to those for whom it is prepared of my Father.
24 And the ten, having heard [of it], were indignant about the two brothers.
25 But Jesus having called them to [him], said, Ye know that the rulers of the nations exercise lordship over them, and the great exercise authority over them.
26 It shall not be thus amongst you, but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant;
27 and whosoever will be first among you, let him be your bondman;
28 as indeed the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
29 And as they went out from Jericho a great crowd followed him.
30 And lo, two blind men, sitting by the wayside, having heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David.
31 But the crowd rebuked them, that they might be silent. But they cried out the more, saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David.
32 And Jesus, having stopped, called them and said, What will ye that I shall do to you?
33 They say to him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
34 And Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes had sight restored to them, and they followed him.
Matthew 17-20
EasyEnglish Bible
Three disciples see how great Jesus is
17 Six days after that, Jesus asked Peter and the two brothers, James and John, to go with him. Jesus led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 Peter, James and John saw Jesus change in front of them. He became different to look at. His face was bright like the sun. His clothes became very white and they shone. 3 Then Moses and Elijah appeared in front of the three disciples.[a][b] They were talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good that we are here. If you want, please let me build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’[c]
5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud appeared. It covered them all. A voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son and I love him. He makes me very happy. Listen to him.’
6 The disciples heard the voice. They threw themselves down to the ground. They were very frightened. 7 But Jesus came to them and he touched them. ‘Stand up,’ he said. ‘Do not be afraid.’ 8 When they looked up, they could not see anyone else. Only Jesus was there with them.
9 While they were walking down the mountain, Jesus said to the three disciples, ‘You must not tell anyone now about the things that you have just seen. One day, the Son of Man will die and then he will become alive again. Then you can tell people about these things.’
10 Then the three disciples said to Jesus, ‘The teachers of God's Law say that God's prophet Elijah must return first, before the Messiah comes. Why do they say this?’
11 Jesus replied, ‘Yes, Elijah does come first. He gets everything ready. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come. People did not recognize him. They did to him all the things that they wanted to do. In the same way, they will also give me, the Son of Man, great pain.’ 13 Then the disciples understood that he was really talking about John the Baptist.
Jesus makes a boy well
14 Then Jesus, and the three disciples reached the place where the crowd was. A man came to Jesus. He went down on his knees in front of him. 15 He said to Jesus, ‘Please sir, be kind to my son. He cannot control his body. Sometimes he does not know what he is doing. Often he falls into the fire, or he falls into water. 16 I brought the boy to your disciples, but they could not make him well.’
17 Jesus replied, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. You have turned away from him. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you.’ Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring the boy here to me.’ 18 Jesus said to the bad spirit, ‘Stop!’ Then the bad spirit left the boy and immediately he became well again.
19 When the disciples were alone with Jesus, they asked him, ‘Why could we not make the bad spirit leave the boy?’
20 Jesus replied, ‘You could not do it because you do not trust God very much. I tell you this: You may believe in God only a little bit, like a very small seed. Even then, you could say to this mountain, “Go away from this place and move to that other place.” Then it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you to do.’[d] [21 Jesus then said, ‘This kind of spirit will not leave a person unless you pray and you do not eat for a time.’][e]
22 When Jesus and his disciples all met together in Galilee, he said, ‘Soon they will deliver the Son of Man to powerful people. 23 They will kill him. But three days after that, he will become alive again.’ When the disciples heard that, they were very sad.
24 After that, Jesus and his disciples arrived at Capernaum. Some men who received taxes for the temple went to talk to Peter. They asked him, ‘Does your teacher pay the tax for the temple?’[f]
25 Peter answered them, ‘Yes, my teacher does pay the tax.’
Then Peter returned to the house where Jesus was staying. Before Peter could say anything, Jesus spoke to him first. He said, ‘Here is a question for you to answer, Simon. Who are the people who must pay taxes and money to the kings in this world? Do the rulers take taxes from their own people? Or do they take taxes from other people?’
26 ‘They take the taxes from other people,’ Peter replied.
Jesus said to him, ‘This means that people from the ruler's own country do not need to pay anything.[g] 27 But we do not want to make these men who take the tax angry. So go to the lake and throw out a line to catch fish. Pull up the first fish that you catch on your line. Open the mouth of the fish and you will find a coin inside it. Take the coin and give it to those who receive taxes for the temple. This will be enough money for both my tax and yours.’
Who is important in God's kingdom?
18 Soon after this, the disciples came to Jesus and they asked him, ‘Who is the most important person in the kingdom of heaven?’
2 Jesus called a child to come to him. He made the child stand in the middle of them all. 3 He said, ‘I tell you this: You must change and become like little children. If not, you will never come into the kingdom of heaven. 4 This little child does not think that he is very important. You must also think as he does. Whoever does this will be the most important person in the kingdom of heaven. 5 If anyone accepts a child like this because of me, that person also accepts me.’
6 Jesus said, ‘A person who believes in me may not seem important. But you should never make that person do wrong things.[h] Do not do that! It would be better for you if someone tied a big stone round your neck. Then you would sink deep down into the sea and die. 7 Some things in this world will cause people to do wrong things. You can be sure that bad things will happen. But it will be very bad for the person who makes these things happen.
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to do wrong things, you should cut it off. You should throw it away. It is better to have only one hand or one foot and to have God's true life. It will be much worse to keep both your hands and both your feet and still do wrong things. Then God will throw you into hell, where the fire always burns. 9 If your eye causes you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. It is better to have only one of your eyes and to have God's true life. It will be much worse if you keep both your eyes but then God throws you into hell. There the fire always burns.
10 Be careful! Do not think that any of these little people are not important. I tell you this. They have angels who watch over them. Those angels are always standing in front of my Father in heaven.[i]
11 [I, the Son of Man, came to look for those who are far away from God.][j]
12 Think about a man who has 100 sheep. He discovers that one of his sheep is not there with the others. What does he do? He leaves all his other sheep on the hills. He goes to look for the one lost sheep. 13 And I tell you this: If he finds that lost sheep, he will be very happy. All the other sheep are safe together. But they do not make him as happy as this one sheep does. 14 God, your Father in heaven, is like that shepherd. He does not want any of these little people to be lost, not even one of them.’[k]
A friend does wrong things against you
15 Jesus said, ‘If your Christian friend has done something wrong against you, you must go and speak to him. When you are alone with him, tell him what he has done that is wrong. He may agree with what you say. If he does, then you can call him your friend again.
16 But maybe he does not want to listen to you. Then take one or two other people with you to speak to him. They will then know what wrong things your friend has done. Remember what the Bible says: “There must be two or three people to say certainly that another person has done something wrong. Two or three people must agree what has happened.” 17 If your friend still will not agree that he has done something wrong, then go and tell the church leaders.[l] If he does not agree with the leaders, stop being his friend. He is like somebody who refuses to obey God.[m]
18 I tell you this: You will tell people here on earth what is right for them to do. And you will tell them what is not right for them to do. God in heaven will give you this authority. He will agree with what you say.
19 Two people may agree together to ask God for something. If they agree like that, then my Father in heaven will give them what they ask for.[n] 20 Two or more people may meet together because they believe in me. If they do that, I will be there with them.’
Jesus tells the people about the servant who did not forgive
21 Then Peter came to talk to Jesus. He asked, ‘Lord, if my friend does wrong things against me many times, how many times should I forgive him? Must I forgive him as many as seven times for the wrong things that he has done against me?’
22 Jesus replied, ‘I do not say only seven times. I say you should forgive him 77 times!’[o]
23 Jesus then said, ‘I will tell you a story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king wanted to check how much money his servants should give to him because of their debts. 24 So the king began to check. His men led a servant to him who had a big debt. He must pay back 10,000 gold coins to the king.[p]
25 The servant could not pay his big debt to the king. So the king said to his men, “Sell the servant and his wife and his children and all his things. Then I will keep the money to pay his debt.”
26 Then the servant went down on his knees in front of the king. He said to the king, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will pay you everything.” 27 The king felt sorry for his servant. He forgave him for all the debt and let him go free.
28 But then that same servant went away and he met another servant of the king. This other servant had to pay back a debt of 100 silver coins to the first servant. The first servant took hold of the neck of the other servant to hurt him. He said, “Give me the money that is mine.”
29 The other servant went down on his knees in front of the first servant. He said, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will give you the money.”
30 But the first servant would not agree. He put the other servant in prison until he could pay his debt to him. 31 The other servants of the king saw what had happened. They were very upset about it. So they went to see the king. They told him about everything that had happened.
32 When the king heard this, he told the first servant to come to him. “You are a very bad person,” the king said to the servant. “I forgave you the whole of your big debt to me. I did this because you asked me very strongly. 33 I was kind to you. You should have been kind to that other servant in the same way.” 34 The king was very angry with the first servant. He told his men to put him in prison. They punished the servant there very much, until he could pay all his debt to the king.’
35 Then Jesus finished the story and he said, ‘You must forgive your friends completely. If you do not agree to forgive them, then my Father in heaven will do like that king did. He will not forgive you.’
Jesus teaches about when a man sends his own wife away
19 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he went away from Galilee. He went to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed Jesus there. He made the sick people well again.
3 Some Pharisees came to talk to Jesus. They wanted to see how he would answer their question. They asked, ‘Can a man send his wife away so that she is no longer his wife? Is it right for him to do that for any reason he chooses?’
4 Jesus replied, ‘You surely have read about this in the Bible. At the start, when God created the world, he made people male and female.[q] 5 Because of this, a man leaves his father and his mother. God joins him and his wife together. The man and the woman become like one body. 6 They are not two separate people any longer. They have come together as one person. God has put them together to be husband and wife. So nobody should make them separate.’
7 Then the Pharisees said to Jesus, ‘Moses said that a man could write a letter to say that he and his wife are no longer married. Then the man can send the woman away. Why did Moses say this?’
8 Jesus answered them, ‘Moses said this because you people did not want to obey God. All these things were different at the start, when God made the world. 9 But now I say to you: A man must not send his wife away and marry another woman. If he does that, it is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife. A man may only send his wife away if she has had sex with another man.’
10 Jesus' disciples said to him, ‘You say that this is what it is like for a man and his wife. Then maybe it is better if people do not marry.’
11 Jesus replied, ‘Not everyone can agree with this idea. But God has helped some people to agree with it. 12 There are several different reasons why a person may not marry. Some men cannot have sex. They were born like that. Some other people cannot have sex because people did something to them. Some people choose not to have sex. They do not marry because then they can work better for God and his kingdom. Anyone who can agree with this idea should do it.’
Jesus wants children to come to him
13 Then some people brought their little children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on each child's head. They wanted him to pray for them. But the disciples told the people that they should not do that.
14 Jesus said to them, ‘Do not stop the children. Let them come to me. People must become like these children so that God can rule their lives. That is what the kingdom of heaven is like.’ 15 So Jesus put his hands on each of the children's heads and he prayed for them. After that, he went away from that place.
Jesus meets a rich man
16 One day a man came to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked. ‘What good thing must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’
17 Jesus replied, ‘Why do you ask me about a good thing? Only God is good. Nobody else. If you want to have real life, then you must obey God's laws.’
18 The man asked Jesus, ‘Which laws must I obey?’
So Jesus replied, ‘Do not kill anyone. Do not have sex with anyone who is not your wife. Do not rob anyone. Do not say things that are not true about people. 19 Love your father and your mother and obey them. Love other people as much as you love yourself.’
20 ‘I have always obeyed these laws,’ the young man replied. ‘What else must I do?’
21 Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be completely good, then you must do this: You must sell everything that you have. Then give the money to poor people. If you do that, you will have many valuable things in heaven. Then come back and be my disciple.’
22 When the young man heard this, he went away. He was not happy. He was feeling sad because he was a very rich man.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘What I say is true. It is very difficult for rich people to let God rule in their lives. 24 The hole in a needle is very small. A camel cannot go through it! But I tell you, it is even more difficult than that for a rich person to let God rule in their life.’
25 When the disciples heard this, they were even more surprised. They said, ‘So perhaps God will not save anyone!’
26 Jesus looked at them and he replied, ‘For people, it really is impossible. But God can do it. God can do everything.’
27 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Look! We have left everything that we had. Now we are your disciples. What will we receive because we have done this?’
28 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you this: One day God will cause all things to become new. I, the Son of Man, will sit on my great throne as King and I will rule that new world. You who are my disciples will also sit like kings on thrones. You will judge the people of the 12 tribes of Israel. 29 Some people have left their homes. Or they may have left their brothers or sisters. Or they may have left their mother or their father. Or they may have left their wife or their children or their fields. They have done that because of me. God will give those people many more things than they have left behind, even 100 times more! And after they die, they will live for ever with God. 30 But many people who are very important now will become the least important. And many people who are not important now will become very important then.’
Jesus tells a story about some workers in a field
20 Jesus said, ‘I will tell you a story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. There was an important man who had a field where he grew grapes. He went out early in the morning. He wanted to find some people who would work in his field. 2 The master agreed with the workers that he would pay them one silver coin for a day's work.[r] Then he sent them to work in the field.
3 The master went out again about three hours later. He saw some other men standing in the market place. They had no work to do. 4 So the master said to these men, “You also go and work in my field. I will pay you the right amount of money.” 5 So the workers went to the master's field and started to work.
The master went out again at noon, and he went again three hours after that. Both times he sent men to his field to work. 6 Two hours later, at five o'clock, he went out again. He found more men who were standing there. And they had no work to do. The master asked them, “Why are you standing here all day and you are not working?”
7 The men said to the master, “Nobody has asked us to work for him.”
So the master said to them, “You also go now and work in my field.”
8 Then the evening came. The master of the field spoke to the man who had authority over the workers. He said to him, “Tell the workers to come here. Pay them their money. Begin with the workers who started to work at the end of the day. Finish with the workers who started first.”
9 The workers who had come to work at five o'clock in the evening received one silver coin each. 10 The workers who had come to work first thought that they would receive more than the other workers. But each of them also received one silver coin. 11 When they received their money, they were not happy. They told the master that he had not been fair to them. 12 They said to him, “Some of these other workers came last and only worked for one hour. But you have paid them the same money as you paid us. And we have worked all day in the hot sun.”
13 Then the master said to one of the workers, “My friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one day and to receive one silver coin. 14 Take your money and go home. I choose to give this last man the same amount of money as I gave to you. 15 It is my money. I can choose what to do with it. I want to be kind to people and give them more than we agreed. Does that make you upset?” ’
16 Jesus then said, ‘So, one day, those people who are not important now will become the most important. Those people who are very important now will become the least important.’
Jesus talks again about how he will die
17 Jesus and his disciples were going towards Jerusalem. As they walked along, Jesus took his 12 disciples away from the other people where he could speak to them alone. 18 ‘Listen!’ he said to them. ‘We are going to Jerusalem. There, someone will deliver the Son of Man to the leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law. These Jewish leaders will decide that I must die. 19 Then they will take me and they will deliver me to people who are not Jews. They will laugh at me. They will hit me with whips. Then they will kill me on a cross.[s] But after three days, I will become alive again.’
The mother of James and John asks Jesus for something
20 Then the mother of James and John took them to see Jesus. (Their father was Zebedee.) She went down on her knees in front of Jesus. She asked him to do something good for her.
21 ‘What do you want me to do?’ Jesus asked her.
She said, ‘One day, you will be king. Then I want my two sons to rule with you. One may sit at your right side and the other one at your left side. Please will you do this?’
22 Jesus said to them, ‘You do not understand what you are asking for. I will have much pain and trouble. Are you ready to have the same pain?’
James and John replied, ‘Yes, we can do that.’
23 Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, that is true. You will have pain and trouble like mine. But I cannot promise that you will sit at my right side or at my left side. My Father God has chosen the people who will sit there. He has prepared the places for those people.’
24 When the other ten disciples heard about this, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 Then Jesus told all the 12 disciples to come to him. He said to them, ‘You know the things that rulers of other countries do. They show that they have great power over their people. The leaders of those countries use great authority over their people. 26 But you should not be like that. The person who wants to be great among you must become your servant. 27 The person who wants to be the most important person among you must work hard for everyone else. 28 Even the Son of Man himself came to earth to be a servant to other people. He did not come here to have servants who must work for him. No, he came to die so that many people can be free.’
Jesus causes two men to see near Jericho
29 Later, Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho. A large crowd of people followed him. 30 Two men were sitting at the side of the road. They were blind. But they heard that Jesus was walking past them. So they shouted, ‘Master! Son of David![t] Please be kind to us and help us.’
31 The people who were in the crowd were angry with them. They told them that they should be quiet. But the men shouted even louder, ‘Master! Son of David! Please help us!’
32 Jesus stopped there. He asked the two men, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
33 ‘Sir,’ the men replied, ‘we want to see again.’
34 Jesus felt sorry for the two men. He touched their eyes and immediately the men could see again. So they followed Jesus along the road.
Footnotes
- 17:3 Moses had lived a long time ago. He was a leader of God's people. He brought them out of Egypt. He died about 1400 years before Jesus was born. We can read about Moses in Exodus.
- 17:3 Elijah was a prophet of God. He lived about 850 years before Jesus was born. He did not die. God took him up alive to heaven. We can read about him in 1 Kings.
- 17:4 Peter and his friends wanted to build the huts so that these three important people could stay with them longer. But God had not asked the disciples to build any huts. Many years before, Moses had given the people God's Law. Elijah was an important prophet of God. And Jesus was God's Son. Jesus was showing people something new. This was the kingdom of God.
- 17:20 The 12 disciples had forgotten that God had caused them to be powerful. They needed to ask God to help them before they could help someone else.
- 17:21 Some people think that Matthew did not write verse 21. They think that someone else wrote it later.
- 17:24 These men took a small silver coin as tax from everybody in the town. The priests used the money from this tax to keep the temple in good repair. The small silver coin was about two days' pay for a worker.
- 17:26 Jesus is telling Peter that he and the other disciples belong to God's family. So they did not need to pay tax for the temple.
- 18:6 The person might be someone who does not believe well in God. Or he may be a child. It would be better to die than to cause someone to stop obeying God.
- 18:10 God's word teaches us that there are angels. And these angels are servants of God, who watch over his people.
- 18:11 Verse 11 is in old Bibles. Many Bible students think that someone put it into Matthew's book later.
- 18:14 In this story, God is like the man who takes care of the sheep. The lost sheep is like a person who is not obeying God. God cares that he is lost. He wants to bring him back to himself.
- 18:17 The word ‘church’ means a group of Christians. They meet together because they are obeying Jesus. It does not mean the building where they meet.
- 18:17 This does not mean that we should only be friends with other Christians. We can be friends with other people too. But perhaps a person says that he follows Jesus. But he does not obey Jesus. Then we should not be a special friend of that person.
- 18:19 People must ask God for the right things. They must be things that God wants to give to them.
- 18:22 Jesus is saying that we must continue to forgive people many, many times.
- 18:24 This was a very large amount of money. No man could ever pay all this money to the king.
- 19:4 See Genesis 2:24.
- 20:2 A person usually received one small silver coin when he worked for one day.
- 20:19 At this time, the ruler's soldiers would kill bad people on a cross. Soldiers fixed them to a big cross made from wood. They remained on the cross until they died.
- 20:30 ‘Son of David’ is another name for the special person, the Christ, that God would send to save his people. It is another name for Jesus.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.